Ryan Fitzpatrick… Long Term Disaster for the New York Jets

There is a scene in the 1995 Movie, Apollo 13, where Tom Hanks (Astronaut, Jim Lovell), Bill Paxton (Astronaut, Fred Haise) and Kevin Bacon (Astronaut, Jack Swigert) are circling around the moon. Their aircraft is damaged, as they are looking at the moon, Paxton and Bacon start talking about how great it would be to do some “prospecting” and walk on its surface. Hank’s seeing the big picture acts right away. He says, “Gentleman what are your intentions? I’d like to go home!” I must preface this article by saying, I know 90% of Jets fans are going to disagree with me vehemently, but that is okay. Ask yourself this question, what are your intentions or in this case… What is you objective as Jets fans? My objective is to win a Super Bowl. The Jets are 8-5 and are in the thick of the playoff race. Quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick is having a phenomenal season, 25 touchdown passes, 11 interceptions and 3,129 yards passing. This is not a knock on Fitzpatrick he has overachieved but, it is fool’s gold. When I coached college basketball we were 3rd in the country in scoring, we averaged 92 points per game. Not one team in our conference averaged over 73 points per game. We finished 17-1 in our division, yet almost every game, we were down at the half 60-55 or 63-59. We would laugh at halftime with our players because we knew the opposing teams couldn’t keep up our pace. We would usually win 95-80 or 93-78. Teams always faded in the second half. The same will happen to Fitzpatrick when he plays a good team.

There is a reason Fitzpatrick has been on 6 teams, he is an average quarterback. The Jets have beaten Cleveland (3-10), Indianapolis (6-7), Miami twice (5-8), Washington (6-7), Jacksonville (5-8), New York (6-7), and Tennessee (3-10). You play who is on your schedule but as you can see there are no signature wins here. I have been impressed with the Jets skill players. Sunday’s win against the Titans was the seventh game this season in which Brandon Marshall and Eric Decker both caught touchdown passes. That ties the NFL record set in 1998 by Randy Moss and Cris Carter of the Vikings.

Here’s the problem, what is the Jets objective? Is it to get to the playoffs or actually compete for a Super Bowl? With Fitzpatrick they have no chance of winning a championship. My problem is the complacency that the Jets will show, if they make the post-season. Fitz is a short term solution, if the Jets make the post-season, they will bring him back as a starter next year. This is not what this organization needs. They are almost better not making the playoffs and trying to draft a franchise QB.

The Patriots just clinched their 13th division title in 15 years. They did this because they have a Hall of Fame quarterback. Last year’s final four teams all had elite quarterbacks… Russell Wilson (SEA), Aaron Rodgers (GB), Andrew Luck (INDY) and Tom Brady (Pats). Fitz is going to be 34 next year, and the Jets will be in the same position as they have been in since Joe Namath retired, they won’t have an elite quarterback. Having Fitz run your team is like going to the gym with a broken hand, you can still do some positive things but you will always be limited.

Jets fans think bigger, think of the future… the days of game managers like Trent Dilfer and Brad Johnson winning Super Bowls are over. You need a playmaker down the stretch. I am not saying the former Harvard graduate isn’t playing well… he is, but when asked to win games he won’t be able to. (And Jets fans) Don’t tell me Fitz won the Giants game, Tom Coughlin’s defense is one of the worst in all of football. Against elite teams, in the playoffs he won’t be able to do that. What is the Jets objective, as long as Fitz is running the team it… is just making the playoffs. Bill Belichick benched Drew Bledsoe for Tom Brady, Jim Harbaugh benched Alex Smith the year after they went to the NFC Championship for Colin Kaepernick. Both Belichick and Harbaugh realized that even though they had success with a quarterback, the needed to evolve, grow and get more production. This is what the Jets have to do, they can’t bring Fitz back next year as anything but a backup. I like Todd Bowles and Mike Maccagnan, I hope they see the big picture. If they don’t it will be the same old Jets.

“At 34, the odds of (Balboa) Ryan Fitzpatrick winning a championships are very long indeed. Can he do it, most experts doubt it, (Balboa) Fitzpatrick was a great competitor (champion) but his time is passed, I wish him luck.”

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I am a former AAU and College basketball coach as well as a Former Stand Up Comedian. Over the past two years I have written over 500 articles for numerous websites. I am the former host of The Monte Cristo Sports Thing on WRNJ radio in New Jersey. I am now the host of my own podcast. The Full Monte airs every Thursday at 6PM Eastern (Sports and Politics) and The Full Monte Football Show airs every Sunday 11 AM. Over the past 2 years I have been a featured guest or host on over 200 radio shows and podcasts. For bookings send emails to Monteinsidesports @gmail.com Follow me on Twitter MonteAJP23